WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will travel to Denmark to support Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, projecting the
highest-ever White House profile in lobbying for the international event.

Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president, told The Associated Press Monday morning that Obama will leave Thursday and join his wife,
Michelle, in Copenhagen, where they'll make the pitch to the International Olympic Committee.

Before all of the "I'm sure he's no different than any other President" bandwagon folks get here, I would like to draw attention to this:

Obama would be the first U.S. president to actually appeal in person to the International Olympic Committee for an Olympics
event.

Folks:

We are in the midst of one of the greatest economic disasters in history.

We are currently enjoying the largest deficit in history.

We currently have the largest unemployment numbers without any relief in site.

We are currently debating an overhaul of the entire US healthcare system.

We are STILL at war in the Middle East and our commander-in-chief is now contemplating an entirely NEW strategy. In other words, starting from
scratch.

We are about to, or are faced with the possibility of, defaulting on gov't acquired loans for the first time come January 2010.

We are undergoing a massive outbreak of H1N1 and the costs associated with vaccine research, innoculations, etc.

The list, unfortunately, goes on and on.

At what point, do we the American people, say enough is enough?

First it was a date, then it was night time TV show, then it was an all-out media blitz, then it was visiting more countries in less days than any
other President, etc. etc.

Now, we have to spend money in a bid for the Olympics?

It has been proven time and time again that hosting the Oympics costs more and leaves the hosting city/state in debt for years and years and years.

However, if this is what Illinois wants for their state, then so be it.

But this is not, and should not, be a job for our President.

Doesn't anyone else think that there are more important things for our POTUS to be doing and spending money on rather than as a salesman -- for one
state?

How many blind-eyes are we going to turn before we realize this all adds up -- and adds up to nothing that actually benefits the average American?

Thoughts? I'm ready to be flamed.....

Edit to add: You can argue that Obama inherited this mess, you can argue that Bush is to blame, you can argue that this has been building for
decades, but the one thing we should all be able to agree on is that THE ONLY PERSON NOW RESPONSIBLE FOR ACTUALLY FIXING IT IS OBAMA!

Tourism is good, but there are certainly more ways to generate tourism than hosting an Olympics event.

Here are some facts to consider:

Hosting is very expensive. In recent times the Olympics have never made a direct profit. The bidding process alone for 2012 will cost each
bidding city around £20m and whichever is selected will expect to pay at least £6.5bn (Paris). With increased security fears Athens spent $1.5bn on
security out of a total of $12bn on the 2004 games. The burden of this cost falls on government (and therefore the taxpayer), companies and
individuals. Both Paris and London’s local governments have put aside around £2.4bn which will mean £20 per year extra in tax for every
household in the cities. Big projects are notoriously hard to budget for (so much so that London is estimating the total cost may go up by up to 50%)
and residents in Los Angeles have only just stopped paying for the over-budget 1984 Olympics through their local taxes. If cities want to
regenerate or improve their infrastructure then they should use this money directly on those projects rather than wasting it on subsidising a sporting
event.

For 17 days every four years the Summer Olympics attract the world’s attention and the host city gets immense media coverage. Yet many argue
that the huge cost of hosting the Olympic games means that cities are left with crippling bills and empty stadia once those 17 days are over.
Montreal, the host in 1976, is still paying off the cost of staging the games today and the Athens Olympics of 2004 ran billions of euros over the
original budget - at state expense. The scandal surrounding the bidding process for the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Games revealed that 13 of the
124 International Olympic Committee (IOC) members who were tasked with deciding who should be awarded the games were ‘bought’ with gifts and
bribes. Since then the IOC has tightened up its regulations but rumours of corruption amongst some members remain and were revealed by a BBC sting
operation in 2004. Whilst proponents of hosting the games generally accept that they will inevitably cost significant amounts of money, they argue
that the ‘feel good factor’ and longer term benefits justify this outlay.

So Michelle is already there? Wonder if it another vacation for her and the kids?

I hate him more every day.

Obama, who represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate after serving in the Illinois Legislature, is a longtime supporter of Chicago's bid. Michelle
Obama is a native of the city and he considers it his adopted home town. Obama recently sent letters to selected IOC members promising a "spectacular
Olympic experience for one and all."

"President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama symbolize the hope, opportunity and inspiration that makes Chicago great, and we are honored to have
two of our city's most accomplished residents leading our delegation in Copenhagen," Mayor Richard M. Daley said in a statement. "Who better to
share with members of the International Olympic Committee the commitment and enthusiasm Chicago has for the Olympic and Paralympic Movement than the
President and First Lady."

That's exactly the problem with having a celebrity presidency. It's one thing to use celebrity status to accomplish things -- such as Charlize
Theron, Angelina Jolie, Charlie Sheen, etc.

It's quite another to have it paid for by the American people.

Keep this in mind: There was an interview with General McCrystal (sp?) last night on 60 Minutes. When asked how many times he has personally spoken
with the President, the answer was ONCE. Now, the argument can be made that his advisors are speaking to McCrystal, therefore there is
communication. However, when the President says "No MORE TROOPS" and the General says "Without more troops we will lose the war" there is
obviously a problem in communication.

I think that our Commander-in-chief being on top of the situation in Afganistan is a tad more important than the public's love of sports.

That's why we have a President -- so that the general public can go about living their life while the government worries about protecting it.

There are a lot of Service and Labor Contracts at stake for the Chicagoland Cronies that gave birth to Obama. These are the only people that will
make any money off of this deal. The Obamas have a lot of people to pay back.

I think someone forgot to tell Obama that he no longer works for just the people of Illinois. Love of your "homestate" is wonderful but not to the
point where the American people -- the ones that live in the other 49 states -- suffer. And any minute that Obama spends on anything other than
what's best for all 50 states is an abuse of power and an enormous waste of time and money.

If things were hunky-dory in the US -- money was flowing -- morale was high -- people were generally happy -- then this type of thing can be
overlooked (still wrong mind you). But today is not that day!

I would say 90% of people here in England would gladly pass on our Olympics to someone else. It just seems to suck up more and more money and provide
little real improvement to any city it's been held in.. We can't afford it especially now.

It certainly wont be on the same scale as Sydney or Beijing.

I think your President has more pressing things to deal with than this.

I agree but to Obama, it's only money, regardless of the source. This is the attitude that secured him his new job. His whole purpose in the White
House is to advance the cause and wealth of those who got him elected. From Hollywood to Chicago to Wall Street... They all have something to gain
with Obama in their corner.

Originally posted by Iseekthetruth!!!!!!!!
So Michelle is already there? Wonder if it another vacation for her and the kids?

People should also keep in mind that the American people ALSO pay for whatever the First Lady decides to do. I would also make the argument that she
has no business spending our money for this either....but even I admit I wouldn't publicly raise much stink about it.

We are STILL at war in the Middle East and our commander-in-chief is now contemplating an entirely NEW strategy. In other words, starting from
scratch.

This is the one I have the biggest problem with. He is dragging his feet on the new strategy he campaigned on as being a #1 priority, he has only
spoken to commander McChrystal once since being elected.

The military general credited with capturing Saddam Hussein and killing the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, says he has spoken with
President Obama only once since taking command in Afghanistan.

"I’ve talked to the president, since I’ve been here, once on a VTC [video teleconference]," Gen. Stanley McChrystal told CBS reporter David
Martin in a television interview that aired Sunday.

"You’ve talked to him once in 70 days?" Mr. Martin followed up.

"That is correct," the general replied.

This revelation comes amid the explosive publication of an classified report written by the general that said the war in Afghanistan "will likely
result in failure" if more troops are not added next year. Yet, the debate over health care reform continues to dominate Washington’s political
discussions. On Monday, the White House announced President Obama would travel to Denmark to lobby the International Olympic Committee to select his
hometown of Chicago for the 2012 summer games.

Mean while the fatalities continue with the status quo and no new ideas.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.